Self-admitted Sodomite priest charged with stealing $1.3 million from parish

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LifeSiteNews.com is reporting that a homosexual priest in Waterbury, Connecticut has been arrested and charged with stealing well over a million dollars from his parish to pay for an extravagant and illicit lifestyle, to include male “escorts”.

LSN has cited that Fr. Kevin Gray, 64, former pastor of Sacred Heart parish, has been charged with first-degree larceny. Allegedly, Gray carried credit cards for two men on his account - one whom he met at a strip club, the other from an escort service. He is also accused of paying for the tuition to Harvard for another man that he met in Central Park.

Gray is accused of stealing parish funds as soon as he was to assigned to Sacred Heart in 2003. He told police that he “had grown to hate being a priest” and “he felt the church owed it to him.”

Click here for the rest of the article (and video).
 
I wonder who vetted this man in the first place? I wonder what the administrative staff at the church were doing? From 2003 to 2010 is a pretty good run.
 
OriginalJS said:
I wonder who vetted this man in the first place? I wonder what the administrative staff at the church were doing? From 2003 to 2010 is a pretty good run.
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Ever read Goodbye, Good Men? It’s a sobering read.
 
This is really really sad and we should pray for this man.
 
Another knock against the Church! The media will be all over this one I bet.
 
I’m sure this happens more than we realize. When Pastors don’t take a vow of poverty, it may be easier to slip in to this type of sin. I found it shocking when my pastor had a going away party with a group of women at his favorite (and very extravagant) steak house, where they printed his own prvate menu for him, just for the occasion.
Personally, to be in the role of priest and pastor, I believe there is a responsibility to help people learn that immediate gratification through any means is not the path to seek and carry out the will of God. We need to pray for integrity and strength of our spiritual leaders.
 
cknick said:
I’m sure this happens more than we realize. When Pastors don’t take a vow of poverty, it may be easier to slip in to this type of sin.
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Ummmm…this priest had already made a vow of chastity. If he wasn’t going to abide by that, or by the Church’s teaching against homosexuality, why should he be expected to abide by a vow of poverty?
 
Even though this “Priest” hasn’t taken a vow of poverty, I can’t imagine it being legal that he can withdraw funds for the parish. I hate to think that Diocesan Bishops wouldn’t have guidelines as to how much a Priest can withdraw for their own use. Perhaps Dioceses would need external auditors to make sure that funds are properly spent?

Sounds like a job for an Accountant! Hehe!!
 
Victorious said:
Ummmm…this priest had already made a vow of chastity. If he wasn’t going to abide by that, or by the Church’s teaching against homosexuality, why should he be expected to abide by a vow of poverty?
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Well, there is no vow of poverty for diocesan priests. And technically, diocesan priests make promises not vows.
And just because a person commits one sin doesn’t mean s/he will commit every sin…
 
NewEnglandPries said:
And just because a person commits one sin doesn’t mean s/he will commit every sin…
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One lesson I have learned in my life, the hard way: sin leads to more sin. I wouldn’t give much for an unrepentant sinner’s ability to resist new varieties of sin.
 
Victorious said:
One lesson I have learned in my life, the hard way: sin leads to more sin. I wouldn’t give much for an unrepentant sinner’s ability to resist new varieties of sin.
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Here’s another story on the same subject from Fox News:

foxnews.com/us/2010/07/06/police-priest-stole-million-male-escorts/?test=latestnews

Note this quote in the last sentence of the story:

“Gray, whose salary was less than $28,000 last year, was the only one with computer access to parish financial records, **and there was no parish council or finance committee at the church, **according to the arrest affidavit.” 😦
 
The church administration was at fault for not using common accounting controls to avoid embezzlement like this.
 
OriginalJS said:
The church administration was at fault for not using common accounting controls to avoid embezzlement like this.
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Yeah…and yet, a priest is the LAST person you should ever have to worry about doing something like this. I think the real problem is that orthodox men have been kept out of the seminaries for years, while guys who have no business being priests have been ordained. Situations like this do not arise with good, faithful, orthodox priests.
 
A couple quick points.
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The papers here have had this priest-thief on page 1. 

(1) He stated that he hated the priesthood because he was assigned 'bad' parishes.

(2) His parish is mainly Hispanic, and initially his flock seemed to be standing behind him. I wonder how long that will last once they read (1) in the papers.

(3) Some months ago two prominent Catholic laymen tried to introduce a bill in the CT legislature that would have guaranteed lay control over finances, since another CT priest had earlier run off with $1 million or more. The hierarchy raised such a fuss that the bill was withdrawn. But this case helps the public understand why such a bill was introduced, as unwise as it may have been for the state to interject itself into shuch affairs.

(4) There apparently was no local Parish Council on this priest's church. Both the local church and the diocese were delinquent in checking the parish finances.

(5) He won the sympathy of his people by (for example) having no car.and dressing poorly - clear deception.

(6) He apparently lied persistently by saying that he had to go to New York City to receive cancer treatments when he was actually going there to stay in swanky hotels, eat at fashionable restaurants, hire male escorts, etc. He also seems to have had connections in Boston. 

 (7) Since this priest - Gray - was exposed, another area priest has been accused of preying on a boy some years back. This is a priest I happen to have known casually as he served in a parish in my city for awhile and I attended his church on occasion.  He tried to intimidate the boy (now a man) as well as bribe him with a car and other material things.

 (8) Sad situation. Very injurious to the church and all of Christianity. Makes those who scoff at religion (especially Catholicism) scoff a little more.
 
Caveman said:
LifeSiteNews.com is reporting that a homosexual priest in Waterbury, Connecticut has been arrested and charged with stealing well over a million dollars from his parish to pay for an extravagant and illicit lifestyle, to include male “escorts”…
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One million dollars seems like a lot of money to pay for male escorts. How many male excorts did Father Gray need?
 
Roy5 said:
(3) Some months ago two prominent Catholic laymen tried to introduce a bill in the CT legislature that would have guaranteed lay control over finances, since another CT priest had earlier run off with $1 million or more. The hierarchy raised such a fuss that the bill was withdrawn. But this case helps the public understand why such a bill was introduced, as unwise as it may have been for the state to interject itself into shuch affairs.
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And the hierarchy was absolutely right to raise a fuss over that bill. It was a frontal assault on the Catholic Church in the best traditions of Henry VIII.
 
Canon law requires a financial [administrative] council so the parishioners and diocese were failing in their responsibilities and thus enabled the priest in his theft

ptdiocese.com/our-offices/documents/Appendix%20XX%20Summary%20of%20Applicable%20Canon%20Laws.pdf

Our home parish [large urban and affluent] and another parish we regularly atend ner my mothers [small rural and poor] both have lay finance councils. I am a mamber of our finance council. We review the statements montly - two members meet with the business manager before the meetings - performing mini-audits … The Diocese audits the parish books on occassion … We know what the collections are, the trends over time and what the expenses are … we assist Father in making financial decisions and reports are made to the parish at large … ditto the small parish … All collections are escorted to the place of safekeeping on Sundays in seal bags bearing both names. No single person is alone with or counts the funds.

This discussion reminds me of of those who don’t like make a pledge to their parish, or to write checks and/or use envelopes. They always exhort reasons like 'what I give is between me and God. Its not anyone elses business - especially Fathers" … “I don’t give to take the IRS deduction” , etc …

Well - I always wonder … Do they care if the parish needs [salaries, payroll taxes, maintenance, supplies and utilities] are actually being paid and even more importantly - are the contributions adequate to cover those needs? Do they care that cash is the easiest to steal? … Do they want to know what was given and where the money went? If everyone drops in cash - their is no accounting - no way to know … However, if you get that report of your contributions from the praish - you can compare that report to your own records … and being accountable is good thing!

If you do not know if your parish has a finance council - ask …If it does not have one - work to make it be a reality. [though I think it would *be rare for that to be the case - in my esperience]

If you have not seen an annual report of how much yor parish received and how it was spent - then ask for one …

And then use your envelopes, make a pledge and keep a record …
 
sidbrown said:
One million dollars seems like a lot of money to pay for male escorts. How many male excorts did Father Gray need?
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From the article in the OP it showed a list of his spending. He stayed in VERY fancy hotels which would rack up costs plus I would imagine the biggest single expense was paying the tuition for that guy to go to Harvard. Consider this theft wasn’t done over the course of a year but many years.
 
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